Hello all, I am new to the forum and have a question about the Radius 119 vaporizer assembly. This is my first Radius restoration an so far I only have Petromax fettling experience. After taking the lantern apart I was surprised to find that the lower vaporizer has no fuel tube attached. Is this normal or did I break something? regards, Götz
Hello and welcome. No, the valve is constructed like that and the tube is still mounted in the tank. When you are going to put all together again do not tighten the nut that hold the cage to the valve to much. The skirt between the cage and the tank easily get metal sickness and crack. It is very common the get both Primus lamps and Radius lamps that way. Your skirt seems to be OK. So do not put to much pressure to it. I have myself loosen the nuts on all of my lamps to avoid just that. Do you lack the glass? They usually cost more then what the lamp costs when they appear for sale. Michael
Hej Michael, thanks for the info. Do I need to take the tube out of the tank or is it fixed to it? I looked in the 1939 Brochure 30A in the reference library but that doesn't really help me. Unfortunately I do lack the glass. Götz
I have not worked to much on the 119 but to what I recall it is soldered to the tank. You can use a wire down the tube to see if it is clear. Michael
You can still get an NOS glass at hytta.de, but as already said they are no bargain. In my opinion these lanterns are of high quality and thus well worth fettling.
If you can find one cheap the glass for a large camping gaz lamp is 12cm by 12cm which is only 2mm smaller than the Radius glass. http://www.campingaz.com/in/p-23845-straight-globe-xl.aspx
Thank you guys! I will find a glass that fits somewhere. An original would be nicer though. At hytta they are out of stock unfortunately. I'll post some pics, when I'm done. Götz
Well, after some cleaning and polishing I found that the skirt or supporting ring has a crack after all. It does not go all the way through though. I tend to leave it like that and just be very careful with it. What do you think? Götz
Hi Götz, well done! You could try to soft-solder some pieces of copper wire around the collar from the inside as a reinforcement. They will be invisible after assembling the lantern. During soldering you can keep the collar in shape by a hose band clip of sufficient size. I've done that already a few times and imho it works perfectly. BR, Martin
Thank you. I am still fighting the NRV. The extractor will be my next approach, as soon as the extension for the extractor gets here. Not looking forward to it though.
I followed Martin's advice and soft-soldered a piece of copper wire to the Insider of the collar. Hope it will take some of the stress when mounted. Götz
Radius collars are a monumental pain-in-the-a**e. Some years back I discovered a batch of Radius 119s for sale. I spent a while finding one with no stress cracks on the collar, bought it and took it home. Now, even after considerate storage, I find it has a stress-cracked collar...
The project is almost finished. The lantern just completed a 45 minute test-run. before the test-run: light in the garden: after: The polishing of the hood was pretty much in vain. The lantern leaks a bit from the bolt in the tank that has no aparent use. I did not take it out earlier but I guess there might be a defektive seal or gasket somewhere. Nevertheless I am very happy with the result so far. 8) Regards, Götz
That's probably it then. So my lantern is the basic model. I flipped the lead washer and the lantern ran about three hours without any problems. The light output is about the same as a Petromax 250 I think. It is more quiet though. Can anybody tell me something about the age? Since it has the safety valve it must be 1934 or later, correct?
You got the 1934 part right. It doesn't have a level gauge so that would indicate pre 1937. That puts it in a 3 year range. About the best that can be done. As David said, the blanking plug is for an optional manometer. They were very rarely fitted as there is no practical need for one and not worth the extra cost. The blanking plug is sealed with a lead washer.
It should perform atleast aswell as a 250 Px. Better in my experience. But you got the sound level correct! the 119 is about one of the most silent lanterns you can get in that specific rating. Can you confirm that it is an original "brassie", i.e. not "de-nickel plated afterwards", it will make it a tad bit rarer than the usual 119's. And to me it actually looks like that from your "before-pictures". Regardless which, the 119 is one of the best lanterns you can get, so you are to be congratulated.
Narrowing The age down to a 3 year range is pretty good, thank you Nils! I can confirm it's an orignal "brassie" (that's a cool term 8) ). Maybe the mantle I use is a bit to large for maximum performance? It's a Luxor 300/400 CP.
I love that little clip that holds the pump plunger in, such a nice touch.... It's so annoying on other lamps that you quite often can't get it to stay all the way in.
do you the Thread pitch and and size of plug???!! I can’t find the information anywhere in my SAE and metric pitch cages measure close but there must be some difference in the pitch because they’re not spot on any ideas? I’m growing desperate thank you
